


Tell Him I Love Him

by Blazing_Birdies



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Battle, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-11
Updated: 2014-09-11
Packaged: 2018-02-17 01:10:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2291453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blazing_Birdies/pseuds/Blazing_Birdies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An enemy soldier finds Chekov in his last hours of life, Chekov recounts the story of his and Sulu's epic love. <br/>"He was so beautiful. From the moment I saw him across the lunch room I just had to talk to him. I noticed the black, almost blue color of his hair, the broadness of his grin, the sparkle of his eyes.” Pavel’s eyes glow with unshed tears, “I talked to him that day and that was all it took."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tell Him I Love Him

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't only sad, its also pretty cute. I hope you enjoy.

The phaser fire flew, the bombs left dark holes in the ground as they hit the earth with muffled shrieks. I am Aki, I'm a soldier, young and fresh out of battle school. I had expected death and pain, but never at this magnitude, I had certainly never expected to meet a man who would change my life.

 

It’s the middle of the night, I run across the field. The bombs fall all around me and the world is constantly lit up with bursts of gunfire. A bomb falls near me and I’m thrown a couple feet, I land in a bomb scar and after a quick survey of my health, crawl to the edge of the gaping hole to survey the surroundings. As I near the edge I find a body in my path. The corpse wears colors of star fleet, this man is my enemy. I start to move around the body, but stop abruptly when I hear a low moan. The man isn't dead. I deliberate for a moment and decide to check my safety before considering the man; I continue my crawl to the edge. 

What I find is chaos, in the darkness the uniforms of the enemy blend with those of my fellow soldiers, men are shooting aimlessly, brother is killing brother. Suddenly the sound of a huge explosion shatters the night; I duck my head until the sound fades. What greets me when I raise my head are the corpses of the men who moments ago fought one another, in death they lie side by side. The silence is deafening. I turn away from the dead and lean against the edge of the crater. After a moment I sit and open my pack to pull out a roll of bandage that I quickly wrap around a gash on my ankle. I have just finished wrapping my wound when I hear the injured federation man beside me moan. I know that this man is the enemy, but sitting so close to him, looking at his pained face, I find it hard to make a distinction. Right now this person next to me is just another human being who is in pain. I move closer to the man to check his injuries. What I find sinks his heart, the man is near death. He had obviously been in an explosion, his skin is charred and he is missing the lower part of his right leg, it bleeds slowly but steadily. I guess that the man has only a couple hours to live. I take another strip of bandage from my pack and wrap the stump of the man’s leg, the man cries out weakly, but remains still. I move to the man’s head, pushing my pack under it to create a pillow. 

All soldiers at my flight school had been trained in standard, and after 4 years of studying the language I feel confident in my ability to converse with this man.

“My name is Aki,” I say quietly, “who are you?”

“My name is Pavel Ckekov,” he replies quietly. He is silent for a moment and then starts to speak softly but urgently; I lean closer to hear the words the man is mumbling. “I am dying, Aki,” he whispers, “I do not want to pass without someone hearing my story,” he stops to take a harsh breath, “allow me to share my story, Aki, give that final gift to a dying man.” 

I cannot deny such a request and find myself nodding to the man. Pavel takes a deep breath and begins his story. 

“I was born to a humble family, my childhood was happy, like many are. I grew up to the love of my parents, the laughter of my brothers and sisters, and the barking of the dogs. But my life didn't really begin until I went to The Academy; it was at The Academy that I found my purpose, my passion. I had always been good at math, it came to me easily. It was at battle school that my talents were put to use. I was truly happy there. They trained me to use my brain to create strategy, beat opponents. I reveled in it.”

Pavel takes a moment to catch his breath before continuing, “It was also at battle school that I met the love of my life, my Sulu. He was a year older than me, but so beautiful. From the moment I saw him across the lunch room I just had to talk to him. I noticed the black, almost blue color of his hair, the broadness of his grin, the sparkle of his eyes.” Pavel’s eyes glow with unshed tears, “I talked to him that day and that was all it took. I won’t say it was love at first sight, but it was certainly something. It was if I had never really seen until I saw him. I liked all the physical parts of him, but it was his humor and his positivity that made me love him. He never let me admit defeat, he was fine with me admitting my failure, but he never let me concede to defeat.” Pavel paused, a small smile showing on his pained face, even as a tear ran from his eye. 

Gathering himself he continued, “We graduated together after 3 years for me and 4 for him. We were young and in love, nothing could stop us. We knew that we might be separated after we had received our assignments, but we were confident in our love. Luck would have it that we actually weren't separated; we were assigned to the same ship, the USS Enterprise, the fastest ship of them all. He was navigator and I was a lieutenant on deck, we lived many happy years on that ship. Things were hard and we lost some friends, but we always had each other, I always had him.” Pavel smiled sadly again, “The men and women on that ship, they were like family to me. Spock, Kirk and McCoy like brothers, Carol and Nyota like sisters, Scottie like a second father. They’re spread all over the universe now, but somehow out of all the friends that died they were the ones to survive.” He took a moment to collect his thoughts. 

“After our time on the ship we retired to Russia, Sulu and I. We bought a house there and filled it with things that belonged to us. I was 29 at the time and he was 30. I worked at a lab and he studied botany, which he had always been interested in, but had never had the time for. We were happy there, the pace of life was slow; we spend many mornings warm in each other’s embrace. It was during those years that we were able to truly love each other, with our full attention and with all of our time.” 

He stopped again, as emotion overwhelmed him; I placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to offer all the comfort I could. “My Sulu, My Hikaru.” He said brokenly, tears leaked out of his tightly closed eyes. It was many minutes before he spoke again. “Those times were beautiful, but inevitably they ended. The federation was called to support its allies; Sulu and I were called back to The Enterprise. We had been in war before, but that one was by far the worst. I saw things I’ll never forget,” he closed his eyes, as if to guard himself from painful memories, and then continued, “but we survived, despite the odds we always survived. We’d had a couple close calls, it was made obvious to us that life was very fragile and we wanted to be bound together in every way humanly possible. When the war was over we married. The ceremony was simple and wonderful. Neither of us had many friends, but the ones we had were like family. We all celebrated life and love together. It’s one of my fondest memories.” A small smile pulled at his face as he took a moment to reminisce.   
“Neither one of us were the carefree, innocent kids that had graduated the academy all those years ago. We were hardened by that we had seen and what we had been forced to do. There were times that I would find Sulu staring at the sky, seeing things I couldn't see. All I could do was wrap myself around him and whisper my love into his hair until he came back to me. We were both scarred and a little broken. Sometimes he would be awoken by the sound of me thrashing and crying, the nightmares never really left me, even after years of peace. When I thought I couldn't survive he would just pull me tight against him and let me bury my face in his neck and cry. It was during those nights that I loved him most.

Last year they needed a strategist on one of the star fleet ships, they didn't need Sulu. That goodbye was the hardest I’d ever experienced. We clung to each other, that last kiss we shared was bitter sweet, it tasted of tears. I pressed my lips hard to his and never wanted to let him go.” Tears flowed freely down Pavel’s face, sobs wracked his destroyed body. I felt tears of my own in my eyes. “That’s the last I saw him, and I now I’ll never see him again.” He gasped out between sobs. I felt my heart rip for the sorrow of the man before me. I moved my hand to his and clasped it tightly. Suddenly I felt a conviction to save him. I put my arm behind his back, he let out a groan of pain and I set him back down gently. I wouldn't be able to carry him, but maybe I could go get help, but who would help him? He was my enemy; his army would shoot me down on sight. Hopelessness filled me. 

“Aki,” he said weakly, “find Hikaru Sulu, he lives in the house we made together.” He slowly reached to his neck and pulled off a necklace, hanging on the chain was a simple ring of white gold. He pressed it into my hand, “Give it to him, tell him I love him.” His eyes slipped shut, “Hikaru,” he exhaled, and then his body fell limp.

I let out a cry, and shook him, but he was gone. I felt tears spill out of my eyes. It was almost unfathomable, I was crying for a man who, a couple of hours ago, was my enemy, a man whom I would have shot down without a moment of hesitation. But after hearing his story it was impossible to hate him, once you know the intimate details of a stranger’s life they are no longer a stranger.   
And so I honored him like I would a friend, the battle was long over and the sun was just starting to rise. I piled dried grass around his body and set it alight. I stood and watched it burn. As the last remnants of his ashes set into the wind I called his name. “Pavel Chekov,” I screamed into the morning air. I hoped that whatever gods had created his people would find him in this forsaken battlefield and guide him home, back to that house in Russia, back to his beloved Sulu. Having done all I could I turned and walked away. 

2 months later  
I stood before a little brown house set behind a yard of bright grass. I slowly walked to the door, a necklace clutched in my hand. As I reached the door I hesitated for a moment before pressing the doorbell. Moments later a dark haired man opened the door.  
“Hikaru Sulu?” I asked, my voice shaking ever so slightly.   
“Yes, that’s me,” the man replied warily, “how can I help you?”  
I raised my hand and allowed my palm to open, sending the ring to dangle between our faces. He stared at it for a moment before recognition dawned on his face and tears filled his eyes. I felt my heart break again. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.


End file.
